Form I-9 Resources

The I-9 Documentation Process

Every new employee is required by federal law to complete the entire I-9 process within three (3) days of their first day of work or risk termination of employment (unpaid) until documentation is received. The process includes two parts: Completion of Section 1 (by the employee and no later than the first day of work) and Completion of Section 2 (employee must submit documentation for review by employer and no later than the third day of work). Failure to present documentation by due date will put W&M out of compliance with federal regulations.

The university participates in the E-verify program and completes all I-9s via Workday as part of the new hire on-boarding module.

E-Verify - employment eligibility based on immigration status

E-Verify, operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA), is an online system that verifies employment eligibility based on immigration status for all new hires. It compares information from an employee’s I-9 form to data from DHS and SSA records. Additional E-Verify facts include:

E-Verify supplements the I-9 (it does not replace it).
E-Verify queries are submitted only after newly-hired employees complete the I-9 within Workday.
Federal regulations require employers to conduct E-Verify searches on all employees (currently employed and newly-hired) assigned to work under such federal contracts.
If E-Verify cannot instantly verify the employee’s work authorization, the employer or employee may have to take action.

Submission Process

1) Complete the Section 1 of I-9 Form in Workday by your first day of work. You will receive a task in your Workday Inbox Actions Tab to complete your I-9.

Here is the list of acceptable documents:

In general, only original, unexpired documents are accepted,

2) Present the same I-9 documentation you utilized to complete Section 1 in Workday no later than the THIRD day of work. Failure to present these documents (to your departmental approver or University Human Resources) may result in termination of employment (and unpaid) until documents are received, per Federal employment regulations.

The departmental representative or UHR I-9 verifier completes Section 2 no later than your third day of work and uploads appropriate documents to your Form I-9.

Resources:

Please contact the [[AskHR, Talent Acquisition Team]] if:

You do not have a departmental verifier or need back-up support
An employee has applied for a social security number but does not yet have one

Fully Remote Workers

Please contact UHR for remote I-9 eligibility guidelines and to schedule an appointment

New employees whose position descriptions are 100% remote, and who are not local to the Williamsburg area should be completed by UHR. Employees must follow same federal guidelines as on-campus workers. See additional details. Federal law permits the university to complete remote inspection of I-9 documents via live video. UHR must handle these verifications.

Employees without Social Security Numbers

New employees who have not fully obtained their social security cards/numbers should work directly with UHR for I-9 completion.

Risk of Noncompliance

Failure to properly complete, retain, and/or make available for inspection I-9 forms as required by law, may result in civil monetary or criminal penalties. If the university receives a fine or penalty because of I-9 non-compliance, the cost of such fine will be charged to the department and/or school responsible for not completing the I-9 accurately or within the federal time limits.

Training

Each department must have a trained I-9 approver. New approvers may complete training through E-Verify